It’s an exercise undertaken by Canadian Football League franchises every offseason as part of a complete and thorough annual review — and it comes whether they ended the year hoisting the Grey Cup overhead or languishing in the basement.

And, truthfully, it’s a process no one with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers front office would have found any joy in doing over the last few weeks.

So, let’s be very frank here as we begin our annual Year in Review series highlighting the Top 5 Blue Bombers stories of 2025: the club’s work in free agency 10 months ago resulted in some whiffs which then played a significant part in the drop from a four-year run atop the West Division to a fourth-place finish and an early playoff exit.

That’s simply the harsh reality for an organization which has posted nine consecutive double-digit win seasons, made five straight Grey Cup appearances and won two titles since 2016 while becoming a destination for free agents across the league every winter, from Willie Jefferson and Adam Bighill to Andrew Harris and Justin Medlock among many, many others.

Expectations remain in the stratosphere in Bomberland and that was certainly the case this time a year ago when the team was coming off its fifth straight Grey Cup appearance — and third consecutive loss.

Yet, while repeated success often means a roster gets picked over every winter — and that was certainly the case in 2025 with the Blue Bombers — the losses the club took this past year were more significant than the gains made in the free agent market and on the field.

Consider what the 2025 winter of change looked like for the Blue Bombers:

-New Tiger-Cat GM Ted Goveia — who would later sadly pass away before the end of the 2025 season — left his role with the Blue Bombers and then feasted on Winnipeg’s roster by offering lucrative deals to game-breaking receiver Kenny Lawler and starting guard Liam Dobson, also adding receiver Drew Wolitarsky, running back Johnny Augustine, defensive tackle Miles Fox and end TyJuan Garbutt along with linebacker Brian Cole II. Granted, some of those players weren’t destined to return to Winnipeg anyway, but that’s a pile of change exiting to just one CFL rival.

-Over the free-agent period the club also saw Canadian all-star cornerback Tyrell Ford join his twin brother Tre in Edmonton, end Celestin Haba sign with Toronto, with hall of fame linebacker Adam Bighill not offered a contract, while receiver Pokey Wilson — who would later return in September — signed with the New York Jets.

-As well, with Buck Pierce leaving his role as offensive coordinator to become the head coach with the B.C. Lions — and taking receivers coach Kevin Bourgoin with him — the coaching staff under Mike O’Shea saw four changes on offence with Jason Hogan promoted to offensive coordinator and then Andre Bolduc, Jarious Jackson and Billy Jean all added.

Now, every CFL team must deal with change every winter, but too many of the Blue Bombers responses to those losses simply didn’t work. Let’s begin with the good — veteran defensive end James Vaughters posted a career high six sacks while receiver Jerreth Sterns flashed enough in a reworked pass catching corps to be intrigued, as he pulled in 48 passes for 530 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games.

But Dillon Mitchell’s season was nothing short of a disappointment — he had 19 catches for 193 yards and a touchdown in nine games and was arrested last month in Arkansas for a series of driving offences — while fellow receiver Reggie White, Jr., quarterback Shea Patterson, defensive end Brock Gowanlock, defensive back Josh Haggerty never even made the team, let alone play in a game.

Running back/returner Peyton Logan was injured in training camp and limited to three games all year — Trey Vaval was CFL’s rookie of the year and special teams player of the year as his replacement, so that worked out — but linebacker Jonathan Jones appeared in just three contests. As well, receiver Gavin Cobb dressed for four games at the end of the year, starting two, and did what he was supposed to do as a depth player, but is once again a pending free agent.

Again the return on the free agent investments couldn’t offset the losses, let alone enhance the organization’s overall position.

GM Kyle Walters

“It was disappointing,” said GM Kyle Walters last month in assessing the 2025 season. “The bar that has been set organizationally is four years of winning the West and five years of Grey Cups and to not sustain that feels like a letdown and a step backwards and it was a step backwards.

“Organizationally we have to accept the fact it wasn’t as good as it needed to be this year and how do we get back to not taking another step the wrong way but get back to competing for the West and getting to Grey Cups.”

There have been some important steps already taken in this department since the end of the season, with both Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea both signing three-year contract extensions, along with critical players who were inching toward free agency re-signing in star running back Brady Oliveira, defensive tackle Cam Lawson, dime back Redha Kramdi, receiver Nic Demski and defensive back Deatrick Nichols — Pokey Wilson also signed an extension — as the club attacks a long to-do list.

That’s important here, too — this organization, one which has set such a lofty bar — is energized to get back to along the CFL’s elite.

“Hopefully we look back and say this was a good turning point for the organization, that we’re able to now realize we had a good run,” said Walters. “And no arguing that we took a step back. And now let’s re-set and get back. So, I’m hoping that this starts that process.”

Consider this as well: the end of season roster featured 14 players who made their CFL debuts in 2025, including six members of this year’s draft class in linebackers Connor Shay, Jaylen Smith and Lane Novak, receiver Joey Corcoran, defensive back Ethan Ball and offensive lineman Ethan Vibert, along with Global Draft selection Kemari Munier-Bailey, a defensive end.

Couple that with the quick fixes available in free agency — if the additions work — and the Blue Bombers plan on being a West Division heavyweight again.

“I’ve stood up here and kind of complained through the years of the one-year contracts, but the benefit of so many free agents in our league from year to year that, I mean, you saw Calgary was last I believe last year and then they flipped their whole roster around,” Walters said. “It’s easier to do with one-year contracts, to be able to make a quick change for your roster, more so than other leagues where once you’re in that situation you’re in it takes a while to get out of it.

“So what we need to do now is sit down and take a deep breath and get all the decision-making pieces organized and then, you’re 100 percent right, figure out how do we fix it. And as I just said, it is a little easier quick fix, for lack of a better term, in our league when there’s so many players on one-year contracts every single year.

“… We were 10-8 this year. So, the idea that the sky is falling and we’re 0-18 and missed the playoffs, that’s not the case – we’re a double-digit win team with a good core here and a group of decision makers that have been here a while who know how to win. Just trust that we’ll get back to winning.”

Next: #4 | Inconsistency/Frustration